In the middle of the night, Eileen woke up to strange noises that echoed through the halls and the garden. Murmurs, whispers, whimpers, and much more. They seemed to be coming from all around, from inside the rooms, from far corridors. She opened her door to look outside. The moon shined through the window and lit up the gardens.

She stepped out and looked around, but there was no one nearby, the sounds were but whispers in the distance.

Beside her room was Attia and Bellica’s room. She approached the door and heard their voices very low inside. She put her ear to the door, they were speaking something, but she could not make sense of it. Eileen knocked, but there was no response.

It was unlike them to not hear and respond to a knock. So she opened the door. Inside the room, she saw Attia and Bellica, laid down on their beds. Restless and sweating profusely. Mumbling and whispering words to themselves while deep asleep.

She approached them “Attia, Bellica, are you ok?” she said in a louder voice trying to wake them up from that state.

Both woke up instantly in great surprise, “Queen?”

“Are you ok? You two seemed distressed, are you feeling well?”

“Yes… yes… I’m fine” Attia said while breathing heavily, she seemed quite surprised and glanced at Bellica that looked just the same.

“Should I call someone? You two don’t look well.”

“No, there is no need, I’m fine…” she said quickly, averting her eyes from Eileen. Attia seemed quite ashamed for some reason.

“Are you sure?” she asked Attia, finding her behavior odd. She turned to Bellica to confirm it.

“Yes… it was just a dream… I’m fine too” Bellica as well seemed to be avoiding Eileen’s eyes.

“If you are sure, then I guess it’s fine… but let me know if you are having any issues. I will let you rest then, sorry for waking you up,” Eileen moved out of the room quite intrigued so she continued down the corridor, knocking on Therese’s and Leona’s door.

Leona opened the door very sleepy “Eileen? It’s late, do you need anything?”

The princess glanced inside “Therese is not here?”

Leona shook her head “No, she left the room by the first bell… she didn’t say where she was going. I thought she went to the bathroom.”

“That’s very unlike her, to leave without saying a word...” Eileen looked at Leona with attention, “Are you feeling well?” Leona seemed fine, quite sleepy, but just that.

“Yes, why?”

“Don’t you hear it? These strange noises everywhere, even Attia and Bellica were acting strangely just now too… It might be nothing. But after everything we went through, I don’t want to take any chances”

Leona nodded “I see…” she paid attention to the sounds around her for a moment. “This is…” Leona got surprised for a moment “This is not normal, there are far too many of them… Lions should be more restrained than this. Something is off”

“So you agree… then I was right to come to see you.“

“What do you wish to do?”

“For now, just wait for Therese here, I will go find Riou, just in case something is happening he might know what to do”

Eileen moved through the halls of the Villa searching for a guard to ask permission to move to the other wing, but as she searched, she couldn’t find anyone at that time.

At the guest wing entrance, she opened the door and found some armor and weapons laying on the ground. She approached them carefully, there was no blood or any signs of struggle.

Concerned, Eileen quickly heard noises coming from behind a large statue, as she approached it, moaning sounds and panting became more clear. She glanced at the silhouette behind the statue to see a couple of guards going at it in the corner of the hall. They noticed her, but didn’t quite mind it and just continued at it as if it was a normal thing. Eileen blushed and dashed out of the hall completely embarrassed by the sight.

Away from all that action and already at the guest wing, she took out the necklace and looked at the blue arrow that formed inside of it.

She followed it until she found the corridor Riou’s room was located in. Walking towards the room, she hears a loud cracking noise by the door she just passed, following the sound she hears some voices.

“Hahaha Look at what you did!” Eileen heard from inside that room, what was most intriguing, the voice seemed to be that of her master. Joyfully speaking and laughing like she had never heard it before.

“I told you it would not hold, and I’m not the one that was jumping on it” A shush male voice could be heard as well.

“As I recall, you were not minding it… actually, you seemed to be enjoying it quite a lot” Said the female voice. Eileen widened her eyes in surprise, she was certain of the voice now.

“Therese?!” Eileen let her voice out in surprise. She covers her mouth but everything goes quiet inside the room, not a sound could be heard from it after it.

Eileen began to move again very slowly and silently towards Riou’s room that was next to that one.

But the door from where her master’s voice came, suddenly opened and Therese appeared and quickly pulled Eileen inside.

“Shh, I don’t want Diata to hear about this! The next round of guards will arrive shortly. They can’t see us here or she will know” Said Therese with a smile in her face.

Eileen looked at her with attention, Therese was in a short, sleeveless, loose-fitting, and almost see-through negligee.

The princess was extremely surprised by the sight of her there “Why are you… This is the guest room! Right? So why are...” Eileen notices the other person in the room with Therese, standing by the broken bed, wrapped in the sheets.

“Arthas?! What are you doing here in the guest wing? Weren’t you with the Lion’s?”

He forced a smile, bare chest exposed, both hands holding the sheets around his waist.

“He asked to be put in a room close to Riou, in case he needed him,” said Therese. “You know how he is”

Eileen turns to Therese completely out of words, her teacher just smiled at her “I told you, if you are not caught, there is no problem. Actually, this is quite common, only the best students manage to sneak by the guards”

Therese moved close to the bed and picked up her clothes. “I’m pleasantly surprised to see that you had the same idea. But you missed your timing, you waited too much. After the first bell rings, you have a few minutes until the guard shifts happen. That’s the best moment for you to sneak between wings unnoticed.”

“No, it was not like I was sneaking… there aren’t any guards and I was just… I just wanted to talk to Riou because of what was going on. Because this seems to be happening everywhere! Is this normal? I mean… this doesn't seem normal to me” The Great Lioness was almost done from putting her clothes and nodded at her

“Beastmen are in more touch with their instincts than humans… mating is one of them. Sometimes we feel this need more presently… Some say it’s the moon, some say it's the season, but even after the fever from time to time we feel some urges.”

Therese finished putting her clothes on. “The second shift change is happening now and the guards will start appearing soon, it’s almost dawn after all. What do you wanna do Eileen? Do you want to go back or will you stay in Riou's room?”

Eileen sighed “I’m sorry… I thought something weird might be going on… after all those attacks I may be a little on edge. I probably just overreacted. I didn’t expect all these to be… normal.”

Therese just smiled “Don’t worry, it’s fine”

“It’s very late and the day will start soon anyway, I will let him sleep a bit more.”

“Master was very tired when he arrived...” added Arthas from the back.

Eileen suddenly realized again she was still bothering them both “And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb your... rest like this, I will be leaving now”

Therese noticed Eileen's concerned expression “I pulled you in, so don’t worry. After all, I was already preparing to go back anyway” Therese looked at Arthas and smiled at him, “I see you later, next time let’s get a better bed” he waved at both of them as they left the room.

It was mid-morning and Eileen couldn’t wait any longer, she went on and knocked on Riou’s room, waking him up.

“It’s me, I want to talk”

“Eileen? Come in”

Eileen entered the room, Riou was sitting down on the bed, clearly just waking up.

“Good morning? What time is it?” She approached him, put a bag on a table nearby, and moved to sit beside him.

“It's the middle of the mid-morning”

He looked at her with care, she seemed a bit tired, she didn’t sleep very well. “Are you ok? Anything happened last night?”

“It’s a long story… but I wanted to talk about this.” She showed him the necklace.

“Yeah, it activated… you said you were fighting someone called Immortal, right? It must have been quite an enemy for the necklace to actually activate.”

“A copy of me appeared, wearing a white light dress… Arthas said it was like a guardian for me”

Riou nodded “Something like that, yes. It’s based on a deity from my world. The goddess of divine retribution.”

“Nemesis… that’s the name inside the necklace. Arthas seemed to be fearful of it”

Riou nodded “To be honest, I had a very different idea at first… but then I realized my mistake and changed it to Nemesis. I realized a balance was needed for it to be more effective”

“Balance?”

“Yes, at first I thought of something that would go after the enemy and eliminate them… but then I realized it didn’t care for the one he was supposed to protect, all it wanted was to get to the enemy.”

“So Nemesis stands by until needed” Eileen nodded, it made sense by what she saw “So, how come I could use the necklace at all? Arthas said it required a lot of mana and that even he couldn’t use it”

“Well… it’s complicated, I discovered a way to manipulate dimensions through realm folds, so using that principle I managed to tie up my mana to the necklace. When you activate it, it taps me for fuel, that’s why I know when it gets activated”

“I won’t even pretend that I understood what you said... But then, if I’m not using my mana, why did I get exhausted after using it?”

Riou frowned “You did? That shouldn’t happen. When I tested it went fine. I will have to look at the enchantments and review them...”

“And can someone control Nemesis? Or does it act on its own?”

“Just tell it what you want it to do, It understands everything. Think of it like a person”

Eileen nodded and paused for a moment looking at the necklace and then turning towards him once again. “How was my grandfather? You found him, right?”

“He is fine now, stubborn as always. He will be returning home, your uncle too”

She smiled. “I knew you would find them… But? What do we do next? We did everything we came here to do, right? So we go back now?”

Riou pondered for a moment “Since we are already here… I want to take a better look at things.”

“What things?”

“Something is very wrong with this whole war. It makes no sense why Argos would drag it like this. For what I’ve seen so far, they are not even fighting for real, they could trample the beastmen, Allard and the North if they wanted to. They are deliberately dragging this war out for some reason.”

“They are that strong?”

“They seem to be at least. I was planning to take a look inside of that fortress of it before making any move against them. Just to see what secrets they hold there.”

Eileen nodded. “If they are superior as you said, we do need to be careful. Lots of people can die if we manage to threaten their war stability.”

“Yeah, I would not like to see them attacking with full force.”

“I will get ready, we will leave soon right?”

“We?”

“Yes, you won’t leave me behind again”

Riou smiled and nodded, glancing at the bag on the table “By the way, that’s why you brought your armor in that bag?”

“No, I came to show you how it got damaged…”

Riou became serious, “Damaged? That armor can’t be damaged. I made sure to put the best possible enchants and materials on it.”

She picked up the bag and handed it to him.

He pulled the black wyrm armor, he noticed the large slash on the lower back and the pierced holes in the front of the chest piece. All deadly wounds… he focused on the armor but couldn’t feel the enchantments nor any mana powering it.

Riou got very concerned. “You were wearing this when these things happened… the best items and enchants weren’t enough to protect you… I should have known better. I shouldn’t assume Argos was like the others we faced so far.”

Suddenly a strange pressure befell over the villa, every beastmen raised their heads under the strange feeling of uneasiness. Something was amiss, and unseeing force pressing against them coming from all sides, making all of them very uncomfortable.

Arthas, Therese, Bellica, and Attia were talking at the gardens when they felt the sensation.

Arthas looked at the group “It seems the queen is talking to the master… he must have learned what happened” both lionesses nodded, quite fearful of the sensation. Therese just looked around and closed her eyes.

“This is different… I can’t quite sense a presence at all.”

“It’s because of his concealment… It's not restraining all of his mana anymore but it still masking it enough so it is not perceived as a presence. We are feeling just raw mana pressure. Which is very unnatural for this world, that's why it feels so strange” explained Arthas.

Therese nodded “I see… that's why it doesn’t seem to have an origin?”

“Oh no… that’s because it’s so big that flooded the whole place at once… that’s why it’s impossible to pinpoint the origin of it”

“I hope the queen knows how to deal with the master when he gets like this…” said Attia concerned.

Therese smiled “Don’t worry… she knows very well, this will go away in a moment”

In the room with Eileen, Riou put his hand on the large slash on the back of the armor.

“Who did this?”

“Zegrath’s weapon damaged the enchantments and then an Immortal finished with them” She pointed to the holes in the front of the armor. “It looks worse than I thought at the moment.” Eileen smiled trying to make fun of the situation, but she could see in Riou's eyes that it was not fine in the slightest.

She thanked the elements that she had washed the blood beforehand.

“I can tell the enchantments are gone… but just their weapons did this? Didn't they do anything else?”

“Nothing that I’ve noticed”

“Damn… this shouldn’t have happened. This armor was supposed to withstand everything. Damn, Argos can’t be underestimated” Riou was analyzing the damaged area and trying to understand how it could have affected the mana circuits that were away from it.

Suddenly, a knock on the door “May I enter?” Diata’s voice came from outside.

“Sure Diata…” said Eileen, glancing at Riou that was focused on the armor.

The elder entered a bit bothered by the strange sensation that had just befallen over the villa “I just wanted to let the trader know that Varos was asking when he would be able to meet you. Also, that we will require master Arthas time so we all can meet the king at the castle...”

Diata stopped as her eyes looked at the trader with more care. “I will send someone to talk to Varos, Arthas is his own man, he chooses what he wishes to do” She could sense some anger in his tone, but it didn’t seem directed at her. She then realized what he was looking at, Eileen’s armor “That armor suffered quite a bit.” Said Diata trying to appease the situation.

Riou nodded.

Diata paused for a moment “I’m sorry that Eileen had to fight in our stead, she was a valorous and strong female. She withstood a lot of damage and even shed blood for us. I knew right there she was a valorous warrior.”

“Thank you Diata,” Said Eileen with a smile, glancing at Riou.

“To think my grandson would have gone that far… to think he had planned to use another Argonian collar. I thank the elemental mother that Eileen was able to somehow withstand that coward’s trap and win over that adversity… I don’t even want to think what could have happened otherwise.”

Riou turned to Diata “The same one that Leona had?”

“Yes… I think he wanted to break Therese, he knew he could only do that through her disciples”

Riou’s eyes flared with anger, “He wanted to enslave Eileen? And he managed to hurt you this much?” he held tightly into the damaged black wyrm armor.

Diata stared into those fiery dark blue eyes and something inside her stirred up. Her stomach sank heavily and her chest felt constricted.

“It wasn’t anything to be concerned about, there was no chance for him to win, he did get lucky, but I was far from done yet,” Said Eileen with a smirk, grabbing Riou’s attention.

Riou looked at her and nodded but then he turned at Diata “And the king? He should have known what his son was turning into, didn’t he? Why then he seems to think Zegrath is on the right side of things?”

“Oyran has been hit on the head too many times…” “I shouldn’t have been so considerate of him… if I had known what Zegrath did…”

“Oyran is getting old and stubborn, but I’m sure he will see reason soon enough,” said Diata.

“He better or next time I see him, I won’t be so courteous” Riou’s tone was changing from anger to a menacing stare.

The matriarch could not help but tremble under those strange eyes, something deep down her guts, all her years of experience were screaming at her that the human in front of her should not be messed with.

Noticing Diata’s distress, Eileen tried to deal with her before she could make things even worse “Is that all Diata? I’d like to talk to him in private if possible” Said Eileen, also noticing the sudden change in the elder that continued to stare at Riou.

“Yes… yes… it is all...” she spoke slowly, her eyes seemed drawn to the strange human. He was not the same person that she had spoken to the day before.

Diata nodded a couple of times and immediately left the room. Outside, she took a deep breath and looked at her hands, both shaking uncontrollably. Even her legs felt sluggish and heavy. She leaned against the wall feeling her heart racing, she could feel the cold sweating.

She glanced back at the door and shook her head quickly leaving the place.

Riou put the armor to the side “You are alive… but I feel like I let you down, I should have been here”

Eileen smiled and hugged Riou very tightly. “I’m fine, everyone is fine. There was no way for anyone to know what would happen, and you helped my grandfather and my uncle in the meantime, who knows what could have happened to them were it not for you going after them? You can’t do everything by yourself! You know that right? I’m here, you can lean on me as much as you need too” He smiled at her kindness and nodded.

“I will do that…” his mood improved greatly.

“Come on, let’s get ready! We'll be together from now on so there is no need to worry about what happened anymore! Right?”

The strange pressure lifted as mysteriously as it arrived for the whole Lion’s villa.

Diata was striding through the Villa when she found Arthas and the two Lionesses, they were all moving towards the Trader’s Room.

“Master Arthas, wait a moment…” Diata said, still very concerned.

“Yes, Matriarch?” He found her tone very strange.

“About the trader… How well did you say you know him?”

“I’d like to think that I know him very well” he found her tone very strange and smiled confusedly at her question.

“I don’t know how to explain it… but he doesn't feel like a normal human trader”

“What’s wrong Diata? Anything happened?”

She forced a smile “It’s probably nothing… for someone like you, It’s nothing, sorry to bother you with this”

Arthas, Attia, and Bellica looked at each other confused by the Matriarch reaction, but as she moved on, they also continued towards Riou’s room.

Diata continued on her way and went to find Therese, she knocked on her door “Therese… I need to talk to you” She said as Therese opened the door for her.

“Can I come in?” Therese nodded and let her inside.

“The human trader…” Diata stopped as she saw Leona sitting down without the collar around her neck for the first time. “What is this? Isn’t she the one that had the collar?” she asked, quite baffled and surprised.

“This is Leona,” said Therese quite simply.

“I know who she is… I mean, how… the collar is gone and she's fine? I saw her with the collar when Zegrath was fighting you and the others a couple days ago.”

Leona smiled “Hello Matriarch Diata, I believe this is the first time we properly meet. I’m fine now, I’ve been resting here, so thank you for allowing my stay”

“Child… in all my years, I never saw anyone break free from that collar. Are you really fine? I can’t believe it!” she turned to Therese “But how?”

“The human, he is a gifted artificer. He knew a lot about the collar and was able to help Leona to get rid of it”

“The trader?” her mood turned for worse “He knows about Argonians spells too?” Therese noticed her growing concern.

The great lioness squinted her eyes “What’s the problem, Diata?”

“There is something wrong about him. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize it. I thought he was just weak, but even the weaklings should have some presence. Yet, he walks about with nothing. It was like he wasn’t even there. I thought it was because he was a human… I should have known better” She looked at Therese very unsettled, “And when I looked at him today, I felt something… something bad, something can’t quite describe”

Therese smiled faintly and nodded realizing what happened “You’ve seen him while he was talking with Eileen this morning, didn’t you?”

“Yes…” she said with some suspicion waiting for Therese to explain herself.

“Eileen was telling him about the fights she had, wasn’t she?”

Diata nodded “He was looking at the damaged armor that she was wearing”

Therese smirked and nodded “That’s why you sensed that way towards him, but rest assured it was not directed at you”

Diata looked at her with a serious expression “Tell me, Therese, he is a very dangerous man, isn’t he?”

Therese shook her head “No, he is not. You just caught him in a bad moment, that’s all.”

“Is that so?” Diata wasn't very convinced.

Therese looked at Leona and even the wolf nodded confirming it. “He is a good man, Matriarch. A bit strange… but a good man nonetheless. Eileen wouldn't like him so much otherwise, you can trust her judgment.” The elder nodded contemplative, their words gave her a lot to think about.

------------

“Wait, wait, wait!” Galan rushes at Eileen, Attia, and Bellica. They were walking through the halls with full gear and ready for travel. “Are you leaving? Already?”

“We are”

“What? Nooo, after all that we went through together, you can’t be going so soon… Can you tell me where you are going in such a hurry?”

“We’d rather not say,” added Eileen.

“Ah! So cold, I took an arrow for you, you know? At least you could let me help… Don’t any of you three need a guide? A hunter? A carrier... A lover?” The girls just kept walking “No? Damn, throw me a bone! Don’t you have a job for me? Anything would do!” but they just moved while going towards Diata's office. Galan rushed to the East Wing.

“Diata, can we enter?” asked Eileen.

“Sure... what brings you here?” Diata seemed deep in her thoughts as the three entered her room.

“We will be going on a quick trip while Arthas and Therese settles everything here… Riou needs to go see someone, we will escort him.”

Diata looked at Attia and Bellica, both were with a large smile on their faces, happy like she had never seen them before.

“Does he plan on returning?”

“I don’t think so… is there a problem?”

Diata forced a smile and shook her head “So, it will be just you three and the trader for a couple of days?”

Attia and Bellica nodded very quickly and were very excited.

“I thought you’d want to wait and see how the meeting with the king would go. After all the clan leadership is at stake here, maybe the future of the whole Beastmen Plains.”

“We trust their judgment, and Riou has an urgent matter to attend to… so we will take him there”

She went serious for a moment and then forced a smile once again “Well, I don’t understand much about humans anyway. I guess they have other priorities...”

“Thank you Diata, thank you for everything, in case we don’t see each other so soon” the princess was about to leave when she heard from the matriarch once again.

“Eileen… You really like that human male?”

“With all my heart”

Diata smiled at the sight of Eileen happy and nodded “I hope to see you three again, you are always welcomed here, have safe travels my children, and be well.”

“Hey…” said Galan, waiting by the corridor as Riou was leaving his room. “I heard you guys are leaving… do you need a guide?”

“We have Barnar already… thank you”

“Ohh the yapping Barnar? That one? He is a good guide… but he doesn't know much of the south, I mean, not really. After all, he is older now and not much prone to fighting anymore”

“And you on the other hand know all about the region, right?”

“Of course… I told you, I spent a lot of time by the border, I know all beasts and all shortcuts… I even know a secret passage into that damn fortress. They have tunnels all across the ground”

“Tunnels?”

“Well, the beastmen found it first, there is a story of an attack a long time ago. I just heard the rumors. They said the whole region is full of caves and in these, there are tunnels made of stones that lead to the fortress. Long story short, the beastmen tried to raid the place through it and Argos turned into a killing zone. So many died that they never again dared to enter the tunnels. But they are there.”

“I see, and you are telling me all this, because?

“Because I know you are going there with Attia, Bellica, and Eileen. And I know what those girls can do! And now with the immortal gone, that place is open for an attack! Unprotected! And you are planning to do something about it, aren’t you? So, shall we go? I will make a good price! After all, I already know your party secrets… I’m the best option for you, you will be able to fight to your heart's content and I will make some money!”

Riou sighed, “I’d gladly pay for you to leave us alone”

“Well, that works too! I won’t turn money away!”

Riou chuckled “You are a funny guy… but you are wrong, I’m just sightseeing. I’m not going near the fortress and I don’t need another guide. Thanks for the offer though” Riou walked away with his things.

Galan watched him get away “Tch.. goddammit… this is going worse than I expected.” He looked around thinking and quickly left the place.

Riou walked on towards the exit where he was to meet Eileen, Attia, and Bellica. They were waiting for him by the entrance hall, ready to move out to the front garden and then through the gates.

“How did she react?” Asked Riou.

“Diata? Well, she seemed occupied, probably because Therese and Arthas’ deal with the king. She didn’t do much of a case of it, to be honest”

“Wait!” they heard Therese coming with Arthas and Leona from the entrance of the Villa’s house.

“Hey” waved Riou greeting them.

“Care for one more?” Asked Therese glancing at Leona. She was ready to go as well.

“Leona?” Asked Eileen “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’ve rested enough… I can’t stay put any longer or I’m going crazy. I lost too much time already so I need to do something to put my mind at something else. And since Therese will be busy with Diata and the king, I thought a trip would do me good, so can I go too?”

They all looked at Riou. “Sure, if it’s fine with you all. I’m not planning into getting into trouble just now.”

“Since this is decided, Therese picked her sword and handed it to Leona “In case of trouble finds you…”

“Are you sure Therese?” Asked the wolf.

“This sword kept you alive while I was away, I want it to keep doing it for a little longer”

She nodded and gladly took the sword “I will make sure to bring it back then”

“Good, besides, I will be with Arthas in the capital, you will need it more than me given who you will be traveling with” she glanced at Riou and smiled faintly.

Riou picked some stones from his bag and threw Arthas a portal stone and an orange crystal. He proceeded to give everyone one orange crystal as well.

“So we can communicate with each other… and for our way back.” he looked at Arthas that nodded and stored the portal stone. “Good luck with the king… he is a very suspicious and tricky man,” advised Riou to the half-lion.

“I will keep that in mind”

“Oh, and Arthas... you know you are free to make your own choices, right? Feel free to do whatever you want to do… you know that, right?” said Riou.

He smiled “I know”

“In any case… think about it very well… I mean, there is no rush, you can accept it if it is a good proposition, right?”

“I know”

“So you are cool with it?”

“Yes, I’m cool with it”

Riou nodded “And we can always move the village somewhere else as well… that’s not an issue… if you’d managed to rule some lands here we could even move everyone here as well… That's easily done with the portal stones”

“That’s not necessary, I believe everyone has settled well on that land. The climate there is good and the land is plentiful.”

“Huhum, well, just keep that in mind... then, good luck again”

As the group said their goodbyes, the party began to leave the Villa’s gate when Diata arrived and joined Therese and Arthas that were watching them go.

“That trader, he doesn't stay put very long, does he?” asked the Matriarch.

“No, he does not,” said Therese.

Diata nodded and noticed that Attia and Bellica were not moving by Eileen’s side anymore, they were walking close to and behind the Trader. Eileen and Leona were to his side… she could easily tell that he was the center of that party.

The Matriarch narrowed her eyes and glanced at Therese “I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around that human.”

Therese smiled.

Diata nodded and looked at Arthas and smiled “Attia and Bellica… they seemed overjoyed when I met them a few moments ago. Which is odd to me, a lioness would never be happy to leave their master, much less walk behind someone else like that.”

Arthas smiled and looked at Therese "Is that so?"

She chuckled "I guess I'm older than I thought... Maybe it's time to retire, maybe a new Matriarch is needed" She looked at Therese.

"No Diata, you still have a few good years in you... do not think of retirement so soon"

---------------

Down the road towards the south, the party was going at a steady pace.

“Say Riou, what do you think will happen now? I mean, with Arthas and Therese meeting the king” Asked Eileen.

“Well, I think they will try to convince Arthas to become the clan leader and then when the king retires, king. He is a natural leader after all and would fit right in. And most importantly, the king and Diata felt Artha’s power... and you know how the beastmen are regarding that, the king is a stubborn one, but once he realizes Arthas true potential, he will change tunes and do anything for Arthas to accept and stay.”

“You think so? I’d doubt that Therese would want to stay...”

“They don’t need to stay there… with the new portals, we found, the beastmen plains are just a step away from our village. After all, both places will be Artha’s to rule when this is all done”

“When this is all done?” Eileen got surprises. “What is on your mind?”

“Well…” he approaches Eileen and wraps her arm around her waist as she walks beside him “I can think of several things… but the very first one is to have some time away. Me and you spending some quality time, just the two of us. You know, for a change… somewhere nice, somewhere peaceful, maybe a hot beach or the cold mountains… Which do you prefer?”

“I wonder what do you mean by peaceful, both those options are usually deadly places to visit.” she smiled at him.

“Nah, I will find a good place, you will see, I will set up a small camp house for us and we will spend the days leisurely.”

“That does sound nice… I don’t think I ever did anything like that”

Suddenly Attia that was in front with Leona and Bellica, scouting the path, moved back “Queen! Leona said there is a good spot for resting upfront, do you wish to rest now?”

“I’m good. I can keep going if you want to.”

“Let’s keep going then, Attia and Bellica, you deal with any beasts or enemies that try to attack us. We are going straight forward to save time. I want to get there by tomorrow if possible” said Riou.

As they resumed their movement, Leona waited for Eileen “Why are they calling you Queen? You are still a princess, right?” Whispered Leona.

“I don’t really know why... but to tell you the truth, I almost became queen of Allard recently, luckily that didn’t have to happen.”

“Really? I recall something about a plague in the Allardian lands… you know, before I lost track of time. But was it as bad as those stories we heard in Thanes?”

“It was as bad if not worse… but when Riou appeared we managed to fix everything very quickly”

Leona smiled “He is something else, I still have trouble to believe he is stronger than Therese and even Arthas. He is even a grown man now! So much has happened, I feel like I lost over 20 years instead of 1”

“It’s not your fault, soon you will feel the same as always, don’t worry”

“You know what bothers me the most? That I was weak… to be caught and being controlled like that so easily, I lack training, Therese would never be captured like that. And on top of that, I can’t even remember anything that I’ve done during that time.”

“That’s or good, right?”

“No… I want to know what happened to me, everything”

Eileen nodded “Arthas mentioned an old wolfman when you attacked him, maybe you could ask him more”

“An old wolf? I don’t know any old wolf...”

Eileen nodded, confirming the story she heard from Arthas, that Leona was indeed amidst others of her clan.

Arthas and Therese arrived at the castle with Diata, they went immediately to see the king, as they arrived, Varos was already having an audience with the king.

“We have come as you requested, my son.”

Oyran nodded “First, I want to know what happened to Zegrath, in detail, before we move forward with the clan’s matter” Varos was curious as well to hear it.

“It is as I told you, my son, Zegrath turned into an honorless man, he used devious ways to achieve his goals and depended on that cursed sword for power. He was revived by it in front of everyone… there was a strong Argonian magic in that sword”

“Revived? So he died?”

“Yes… Zegrath went mad, he didn’t care to use any means necessary to achieve his goals. When we discovered the trap he had put together and his intentions with another Argonian Collar, he even threatened to kill us all if we dared to stand in his way.”

“With that sword… he could easily take an elder and a bunch of young lionesses on his own” added Varos as the king nodded agreeing to it. “Who was fighting him at that moment?” asked the king.

“During this time, the human Eileen was the only one able to fight him on equal terms, she resisted the trap and was defending her master.”

“The human girl? That can’t be true” said the king.

“She was a disciple of Therese and is very strong my son, she managed to fight him and allowed us to see what Zegrath had become.”

“And then, what happened?” The king wasn’t very convinced.

“She was heavily injured by the fight as expected, but eventually she had undone the trap, freeing her master and alerting everyone… It was at this time that master Arthas arrived, I assumed that he too was lured by the commotion Eileen caused in the underground room. Arthas stepped forward, angered that someone was attacking his friends and managed to win against Zegrath in an instant, with nothing else but a broken sword in hand and sheer power.”

“Pfff, nonsense what could he even do with a broken sword against Zegrath?”

“Believe it or not, he pierced Zegrath’s chest with it, and Zegrath was dead in an instant”

The king chuckled, “I heard that before… Yet, he was still alive and unharmed when I saw him in the cages. You say that was the sword doing? I never heard about a sword that could do such a thing”

“The cursed sword revived him, we all saw that. And he turned into a frenzied monster after it. Therese noticed the threat and fought him valiantly until the cursed sword was finally destroyed.”

The king looked at Arthas and Therese for a few moments. Judging what to believe “Everyone, leave… I want to talk to the half-blood alone”

Arthas glanced at Therese, she nodded and tapped him on the shoulder.

Alone in the throne room, Oyran stood up and began walking towards Arthas. “So, you managed to defeat Zegrath with a broken sword nonetheless.”

“He was out of his mind already by the time I arrived.”

The king narrowed his eyes “Don’t lie to me half-blood… an outsider like you that didn’t even know Zegrath could have no idea of his mental state.”

Arthas sighed, pressing his head with his fingers, a headache was bothering him greatly “You don’t need to know the man from birth to know when he is out of his mind”

“In any case… that would explain how you could win against him, could it not? Maybe there is more to this story… maybe you or someone from your group did something to him to make him enter this state…”

“I see… So, I imagine you want the truth then?”

The king nodded, ”Yes, I want to know what happened.”

“The truth is very simple... I was ordered to protect the human girl. When I arrived, Zegrath was fighting her”

“I heard that much already”

Arthas looked very seriously to the King “And yet, you don’t seem to understand, there was blood, her armor was ripped… he had injured her already”

“And? That is common on a fight” the king squinted his eyes at Arthas

“And?” Arthas got very angry very quickly “My orders were to protect her… and yet, she was injured”

“So you sneak attacked him… For harming a human?” The king shook his head in disappointment.

Arthas smiled openly, his eyes were wide open and the golden color of the lions was appearing “Sneak attack? No, I was very lenient, I let him see me, I walked slowly towards him, unsheathed my sword and gave him a quick death, which was more than he deserved for what he did”

The king was not liking his tone nor his expression “And what was that human to you?”

Arthas moved his head around as if stretching his neck trying to deal with the headache, still, his anger was building up.

“She is my master’s mate, and my master’s word is absolute”

“Ha! The human trader? You call him master? Someone like you, serving a human-like that. You are no Lion after all. All this you show up” the king looks at him from head to toe “Is nothing but a facade isn’t it?”

Arthas didn’t even blink as he stared at the king.

Oyran nodded at him “I recall feeling that great presence back in the villa… but still, I just felt it, I didn’t see it… do you wanna know what I think about that?”

Arthas remained silent.

“I think you are just for show… I think you developed a way to increase your presence somehow… forcing your mana out or some other weird human trick. I think Zegrath was already weak when you fought him, maybe poisoned. That's the only explanation for you or a human female to even manage to stand in the same room as him.”

“You can think what you want, the facts will remain”

“No, I’m king, my word is what goes. I won’t allow Diata to put you as clan head, I can’t possibly let a pretender like you achieve such a renowned position.”

“Like I said, you can think whatever you want”

The king smiled “Then why don’t we put it to the test?”

The king removed his armor and his clothes revealing his bare chest. Close to his heart, there was a dark metal plate piercing his flesh, deeply while large scars covered the metal borders. It seemed that his body was absorbing the metal plate for many years now.

“Take your best shot… let’s see how good you really are”

Arthas observed the dark plate, “I sense mana emanating from that thing on your chest.”

The king nodded “It’s my earth elemental blessing… I was supposed to die after facing an Immortal a long time ago but my lionesses managed to break his armor and the damn thing used a broken piece as a weapon to try to kill me. I didn’t die and this is the result of that battle, I became much stronger than before, my defense is impenetrable!”

“That’s not what should have happened… this is not how an armor enchantment would work. Your story doesn't make sense”

“Doesn’t it? Still, my defense is the greatest of all the beastmen plains. So? What are you gonna do? Take up the challenge or are you too scared to test yourself against me?”

Arthas smiled at the provocation, his patience was long gone, but the king continued.

“Yes… I think you are scared and I still believe that you or that trader did something to Zegrath just to get his position. A sure way to move you in front of all other pieces. I think he was already in that miserable state when you fought him and my senile mother couldn’t even notice it…”

“And I’m attacking you will prove it?”

“Yes… it will, either you are strong enough to face Zegrath or you are a charlatan… in which case you and that trader will be dealt with accordingly”

Arthas chuckled, he could not hide his anger anymore “You dare threaten my master too?”

“Master... Have no shame? Calling that puny human, master? That’s another reason why I think you are full of shit. That’s why I’m planning to have him gutted like a pig, in the middle of Khargaz for all to see. I will hang his skin in the plaza and put his head right beside it, stuck in a stake made from his limbs!”

Arthas widened his glowing golden eye, his vertical pupil stared at the King in full. His gaze was filled with deadly intent “You want to die, king?” any restraint Arthas had, was gone by that moment.

The king looked at Arthas, pressured by his massive, unrestricted presence and smiled. “Yes, there it is! And with such confidence. Outstanding performance! Tell me, how do you do it? How do you bluff this well?”

“Thread carefully…” warned Arthas trying to contain his anger and get back in control.

“No, this charade ends now… you will pay for what you did to Zegrath. It was after your arrival that he became that pitiful thing! Admit it, you did it! Didn’t you? At the command of that human of yours, you plotted and conspired against my son to take his place to profit later on! I will expose you both!”

“Such hubris, even for a king, there should be a limit on how blind one can be.” Arthas was smiling, holding himself back to not murder the king where he stood.

The king smiled as he saw Arthas on the edge and smiled pridefully “Watch your tone! What a boy like you know? You are no beastmen, you did not live our war! You have no idea of what is to have the enemy at your borders your whole life! What do you know about anything? Put yourself in your place before addressing me!”

Arthas stepped even closer to the king and smiled wickedly looking directly at his eyes “As my master would say, a lesson in humility is needed here”

“Hahaha! So you made your mind? Then give me your best shot, because if I don’t like it, you know what will happen next to you and all your friends, especially that human trader”

Arthas prepared his arm, focusing mana on it “Apologise now or you will regret it, king”

Oyran smiled confidently “Finally… show me what you got, boy” he put mana into his body and hardened his chest and belly ready to receive the impact.

Arthas prepared the punch “just a word of advice, try to not die... too fast” the half-lion released his fist on Oyran.

The impact seemed normal, the king didn’t even move, the punch didn't even feel that strong. Still, the king felt something weird within his body. Nonetheless, he was still standing.

Oyran raised his head victorious and looked down on Arthas “Shameful… I had low expectations, but this was just disappointing”

Arthas just looked at him and smiled, giving the king space.

Infuriated by the smug look after failing, the king stepped forward and decided to teach him a lesson. But as he moved, Oyran’s legs lost their strength, his balance faltered and he almost fell to the ground.

With his head looking down, blood suddenly gushed from his mouth coming from within his stomach. He began to lose more of his strength on his whole body, even his vision became blurred. He tried his best to straighten up, but his legs and torso muscles were shut down he could not stand anymore, there was no other way but down to the ground.

Arthas approached him and looked from above “You were saying? Oh yes… Disappointing, shameful… What else? I’m waiting” Arthas moved his head giving his ear to the king to listen to him better “Why so silent now, king? Are you done with your speech?”

“Hu...muhu...auhhmmah” Oyran tried to talk, but he could only mumble words from the ground.

Arthas shook his head and sighed at the sight of the king. Arthas then moved away and walked around the hall, looking at the pictures on the walls, the statues, and all the great art and architecture of that place.

“When I was young, I heard all the tales of this place, all the heroes. Since I was a boy I dreamt of coming here. The home of the great white King and the unrivaled Beastmen warriors. Imagine my surprise when I arrived here.”

The king was struggling on the floor, fighting the pain and fighting to stay awake.

“I was so happy… I was dead certain that you all would sense him. Every single one of you would see through his disguise in a blink of an eye. The mighty beastmen instinct would not be fooled.” He looked at the king and smiled “I thought that a true beastmen would be so much better than us, in everything” he shook his head disappointed.

“The true beastmen of the great plains should be the ultimate warriors. Their strength should have no equal, their ability and skill should be unmatched. Yet, look at you, the king, the strongest of all of them, dying at the floor after a meager attack of mine, have you no shame? You are weaker than me when I first met him… I’m disheartened after meeting you”

Arthas’ head was burning and pulsing in pain as he walked around Oyran “You all proved to be nothing but arrogant bastards. You think so high and mighty of yourselves while the enemy laughs at your expenses. And yet, you fill your mouth when you speak of the war. You puff off your chest as if you did something great… by just surviving.”

He shook his head “Just surviving is not enough… I know that now”

The king vomited blood once again and Arthas approached him

“You have such pride of a war you cannot win, against an enemy you do not comprehend”

He crouched near the king “Won’t you say otherwise? Why won’t you talk back to me now? Aren’t we having fun here?”

The king looked at Arthas with eyes full of hate “Yoouuu…”

“Good, you are still conscious… at least you have a strong spirit, I give you that. But still, since I broke your unbreakable body, maybe we should break that as well? Don’t you think? How about we use that Argonian slave collar on you? All in good fun of course. I’m sure nobody would mind having their king cleaning the gutters of the houses with his bare hands, would they? After all, you are just a Lion”

The king was furious, desperately trying to do anything in his power to fight back that strange affliction but his mighty body was already too damaged.

Arthas shook his head showing his teeth at the king for a moment “But you crossed the line when you put my master in shackles… You don’t even realize how lucky you were. He is far too benevolent. Still, I’m not in a position to question him, for I too was saved by his ways.”

He looked at the king for a moment “But some people… some people are just undeserving of his attention and should just be crushed, stepped on like the bugs they are” Arthas looked with his golden eyes at the king for a moment as if he just decided to finally kill the king.

He then kneeled beside the fallen king “You asked me what I knew about war… but I ask you. You, who lived inside these thick walls, pampered by your servants, protected by your army, by your people… what do you know?”

The king was silently listening.

“Here, in this magnificent city… Has your enemy ever knocked these walls down? Entered your safe haven in full force? Slaughtered the old, the young… everyone that wasn’t fast enough to flee? Say, king... Have you ever had to tell the children to hide amidst the bloodied bodies of their loved ones? Just so they might have a chance to survive?”

Arthas was out of himself, he could feel his head pulsing with pain and heat, his hand was even moving unconsciously to the king’s throat.

He stopped and closed his eyes, he could tell there was something wrong with him, so he tried to force himself to calm down. He swallowed hard, recovering his senses a bit.

“This place is a paradise when compared to the hole we crawled from. You should remember that next time you talk to me or my master… he went there and he was the one that pulled us off it. A thousand lifetimes of servitude wouldn’t be enough to pay for his kindness” Arthas eyes returned to normal, his tone became softer.

He then touched the king’s chest and a green mist quickly covered the king’s body, penetrating it through the skin. Oyran knew he was at the death’s door, but as the green fog entered his body he could feel his body condition improving very quickly.

The king looked surprised at Arthas, he was certain that he was about to die. Yet, miraculously the half-blood managed to save him.

The king realized that Artha’s power was greater than he imagined, that man was not to be taken lightly. Oyran realized he had made a huge mistake in infuriating the half-lion as he did. But until then, the king didn’t know there was a power far beyond everything he thought possible

Oyran sat down on the ground as his body slowly recovered. He was trying to make sense of the words Arthas had spoken to him “Who are you?” he finally said.

“I’m Arthas…. Son of Arnan, of the lineage of the Great General Hartir”

“Impossible! Hartir of the Golden Mane? He was killed in battle! He and all his army vanished together with a Human army during the old war! Are you saying this just to have a chance at the throne?”

“I don’t want your throne, you can keep your kingdom and your clan leadership, you can have it all.”

The king shook his head not understanding any of it. “You could claim the throne with your strength alone… but being Hartir’s descendant would even have a blood claim to it as well. Why would you give up on it? For what? What could possibly be better than being king?”

Arthas smiled “Kings come and go… but a hero appears only once in thousands of years. I’d be a fool to willingly distance myself from him.”

“Hero?” The king laughed “You are a strange one... But still, if you are really from the Lineage of Hartir, you have a duty to your people, for the good of the clan and the kingdom. You have to aid us with your power in this war! If you don’t want the kingdom or the clan, at least fight for us in this war!”

“So now I have a duty? Since I arrived in these lands I have received nothing but strange glances, being called Half-blood, half-lion… like I was this impure thing. So wouldn’t that mean I have just half of a duty to fulfill? Or none?”

“Be reasonable… will you turn your back on everyone in this land for these petty things? We need a hero as you said, you can be that hero!”

“Convenient… Now you need me?”

“I’m sure you understand, you are a lion as well. It is our way after all”

“Lions must follow the strong and the strong must lead, ain’t it?”

“Yes, power, duty, and honor… Those are our pillars! Embrace it and you will be remembered forever! If we manage to eliminate the Argonian threat, we will accomplish what our ancestors couldn’t!”

Arthas shook his head and moved away from the king “You don’t need to worry about Argos”

“What do you mean?”

“He will deal with them, if so he desires, until then, I suggest you treat him accordingly. If I see you even looking at him disrespectfully, you will wish to rip that plate from your chest with your bare hands, just so you can die quicker. Do we understand each other?”

The king nodded. “So you will fight Argos?”

“If he orders and when he orders… Argos will be gone”

The king nodded understanding it “Then I need to convince the human… if he can make you move against Argos, then that’s what I will do”

Arthas just ignored him and continued “Me and Therese are leaving this place, don’t expect to see us anytime soon, but we will let you know if we ever need anything from you or your kingdom. So for now, goodbye king Oyran” Arthas left the king and the throne room.

The king stood up and touched his stomach, the place where Arthas punched, the format of the fist was still marked on him.

”It’s getting dark, should we stop and camp here, master?” Asked Attia excitedly.

Leona and Eileen were panting, completely out of stamina “Here?” Leona looked around concerned “Aren’t we too close to the beasts hunting grounds? We don’t have a good vision nor good protection either. We’d better find some better terrain”

Riou smiled and looked at Bellica “Show her”

Bellica went through a small bag on the side of her belt and pulled 3 medals, one round, and two squared ones.

She threw the round on the ground, around them, in a very large area, a translucent barrier began to form. She then threw the square ones on the ground, far apart from each other. From each medal, a blue light began to emerge and solidify into a larger structure, soon a squared tent appeared, just like a small house.

Belica smiled at Riou wryly “I only brought two…”

Riou squinted his eyes at her “Hum… only two?”

“Me and Bellica don’t need to sleep, we can keep guard. Master can use our tent and queen and Leona should share the other” said Attia nonchalantly glancing at Bellica that nodded to her very calmly.

Eileen shook her head noticing they had some plan going on “No, we can all take turns to make guard, so everyone can have some rest” she said glancing at Leona and Riou for confirmation.

Riou shook his head and pulled another squared medal from a pocket “They know very well that there is no need for anyone to make guard… and luckily, I always bring my tent when I’m out, just in case someone forgets” he looked at Bellica.

“No guard?” asked Leona, confused.

“The barrier we put on, it will hide us and even tell us if anyone approaches it”

“I never heard of anything like this… these things evolved quickly in a year” Leona peeked inside the tent, it had a strange bed made of a very soft fabric, a small room with a very weird chair and a few pots and skewers for making food on a fire outside.

“And it has everything inside as well?” said the wolf, very impressed. “This is better than a luxurious inn!”

“We had to be able to camp anywhere, despite the danger or the weather. We adapted our enchantments for it and created these tents.”

“These medals… Can I buy one? This will make things so much easier when traveling” asked, Leona.

“You can keep this one, we have plenty back in the village”

“Really? Isn’t this expensive?”

“Not really, don’t worry about it,” said Riou.

Leona smiled looking at the tent “So… how are we sharing these? Me and Eileen, Attia, and Bellica? And you will be on yours or...?” she looked at Eileen, genuinely asking.

Riou glanced at Eileen and shrugged. “I guess?” She said not too certain about it.

“I don’t mind sharing…” Riou smiled at Eileen but Attia and Bellica promptly spoke in unison “Then I can share it with you?” they swallowed hard as they felt the piercing gaze Eileen was giving them,“ I mean, to guard him” Attia added as Bellica nodded.

Eileen squinted her eyes “How about I guard him then? So you two can get some good rest? After all, you must be tired from not sleeping well last night, you two do look a bit tired”

“No! There is no need for that, we are fine… right, Bellica?”

“Yes, very rested”

“Well, since it’s decided, let’s make some food!” Riou quickly settled it looking at Eileen with a smirk.

Leona looked at the tent “That means I will have all this space for myself?” she went inside and back a moment later “Can I really have this one? I will never pay to stay at an inn again!” she said, very happy going back inside.

After they ate, everyone went to their tents. Riou laid down on his bed and looked at Eileen at the spare bed on the other side of the tent.

She laid down in silence and kept glancing at him in silence.

Riou whispered to her “I’d move closer, you know... so we could talk a bit. But the tent’s walls aren’t protected against sound, to be honest, they are quite thin in that regard and we do have a wolf and two half lions nearby, so...”

“Sorry! Want me to cover my ears?” Shouted Leona from her tent.

“We can’t hear anything from over here, so don’t need to mind us” shouted Attia.

Eileen became red “Why don’t we all just sleep? We will have a long day tomorrow!” She looked at Riou and smiled at him a bit flustered.

He sneaked out of bed and silently moved towards her.

“What are you doing?” she whispered very surprised.

“I think we can get away with this much” He kissed her, a moment after both could hear Attia and Bellica becoming restless in their tent.

Both Eileen and Riou smiled at each other, “I better get back, right?”

She nodded “Please… It’s better”

The night continued and everyone should be asleep, but Leona woke up to the sound of footsteps on the grass nearby her tent. She stood up and promptly looked outside the tent with her weapon ready.

Attia and Bellica were standing still under the moonlight, looking at Riou and Eileen’s tent.

Leona left her tent and began to approach the two from behind “What are you two doing?” Attia and Bellica were startled, like waking up from a trance and immediately turned to the wolf. The moonlight shone in their golden eyes that glimmered, they were wide open.

Leona was surprised to see them like that “Are you two ok?” She walked towards them and put her hand on their heads.

“You two are burning up… how old are you? Why are you having a youngster’s fever at this age?”

Attia and Bellica remained silent, they didn’t seem quite themselves, maybe the fever was affecting their minds already, thought the wolf.

“You need to lay down” she looked at Riou’s tent. “Eileen will get furious at you if you try anything to her mate, you know that, right?”

Still, both just listened while moving as Leona instructed them back into their tent.

“Lay down, I will go get something to help you with this, we are not far from my old village, I know the area very well.”

As Leona began to move, Attia and Bellica stood up and began to follow her.

Leona pondered for a moment and nodded. “You want to come?” both nodded to her.

“Fine, let’s go then, but don’t wander, keep close to me at all times”

They moved quickly through the dark, amidst woods and plains and quickly arrived at an old destroyed village. Few broken houses remained there, as nature was already reclaiming the land, they were clearly destroyed a long time ago.

Around the village there were some trees, on these trees, intertwined on the trunks and branches there were many wines of another plant. Green wines, that wrapped around the big trees and moved up to the branches.

From the top of the larger wines, a large flower appeared, like a purple crown. Near it, clumps of a small yellow fruit hung on the wines. The wines extended far into the forest, in a garden of purple crown flowers.

Leona smiled, “I knew there would still be here...” She picked a few yellow fruits and put on a bag.

Suddenly Attia and Bellica turned around. At that moment, the wolf got a sniff of someone else lurking by. “Who’s there?” she shouted, putting her hand on the sword handle.

“You shouldn’t be here” a male voice, coming from behind some trees. A man begins to step from the shadows and towards Leona.

“Who are you?” Attia and Bellica were ready to attack him “Wait… do not move” said Leona to them.

“You got the fruits you wanted, now go treat them far away from here… there will be a fight soon and for the movement, it will be a big one. Some of the higher-ups might even join… this area won’t be safe anymore”

“Undead? Argos will attack?”

He had long black hair and a thick, old leather armor. His arms and face showed many scars.

“You… you are the last Black Wolf, aren’t you? I thought you were dead” Said Leona relaxing a bit and taking her hand off her sword.

“Not dead, I was captured a long time ago” he looked at Attia and Bellica “You should take your friends far away from here. The closer they get to the fortress, the worse will be their symptoms. Half-bloods that had never been exposed to their machine will only worsen as time goes by and the closer they get to it”

“The fever? You mean that the fortress has anything to do with it?”

“It has everything to do with it, they found a way to control us without us knowing it. Now go away from here, for your own good” the black wolf just moved back behind the tree and disappeared in the shadows. Attia and Bellica were ready to move after him, but Leona stopped them. “Let’s return, we have a lot to do and morning will come soon,” she said to them.

Riou woke up to the noise outside the tent, someone seemed very active, very early in the morning.

Outside, he sees Leona with a bag on her back. She quickly put it down and began squeezing some yellow fruit into water bottles while Attia and Bellica were butchering some large animal. Both of them were covered in blood… The moment Riou looked at them, both instantly turned and watched him with widened eyes.

He got startled, their looks were strange, both their eyes were glistening in yellow, they acted more like a beast than human. The two stared at Riou without moving a muscle, completely still, like a lioness watching a gazelle.

“Leona… did I miss something?” he said without taking his eyes out of the two.

“It’s the youngsters' fever, they, are having a severe case of it”

“Really? But aren't old to have that?" Both began to smile wickedly at him "Please hurry" he says to Leona.

“Well, I’d recommend you to go inside, for now, don’t let them see or smell you. I’m preparing this medicine, they should come back to normal soon”

“Ok…” said Riou moving slowly back into the tent.

“Did I hear it well? The fever?” Asked Eileen while seeing Riou backing into the tent very slowly.

“It seems like it… But that doesn't make any sense. They are past the age and I thought half lions weren’t supposed to have it.”

“I will help Leona” Eileen went out and saw the bloodied half lions. “What happened here… Leona? Did you take them to hunt?”

“Yes, on our way back… it was a good way to get their mind into something else, they were getting worse. If I haven't done it, they might have attacked Riou the moment they sniffed him on the tent. Come, help me give this medicine to them.”

Leona handed a canteen with the liquid to Eileen and both approached Attia and Bellica carefully. Both half lions just watched their movements in silence, like wild animals, they seemed to recognize them but they still seemed suspicious of their approach.

“Drink this” Said Leona giving it to Bellica, Eileen did the same with Attia.

The trance was instantly broken “It’s so sour! Blergh” both made strange faces and quickly recovered their senses.

“Good you two are back to normal, let’s get you washed off… we can’t travel with you looking like this” Eileen took them to a small stream nearby.

“You can come out now, Eileen took them to the stream”

Riou stepped out of the tent very concerned “This is too strange, I can’t help but to think something is very wrong on these lands. ”

“There might be, last night I heard something that might explain it” added Leona.

“What?”

“We met a black wolf while gathering these… he said the closer we get from the fortress, the worse their symptoms will get… he said that the Fortress is the reason for the Beastmen acting so weird. If that’s true, then wouldn’t that mean that Argos is controlling us somehow?”

“It would... what else he said?” Riou began to ponder on that information.

“He said it was some sort of spell” The image of the crystal at the mining camp came to Riou’s mind.

“A spell? Why can’t I sense it then… Why can’t I block it? Their wyrm armors should be protecting them against it too, so why are they affected?.” He was having a hard time understanding what was going on, he then turned to Leona “And you? Why are you fine? Why are me and Eileen fine?”

“You are humans and I’m a pure gray wolf, I guess this is the only thing that could explain it.”

“I get the human part... but you? What does that mean?”

“I’m not affected by the fever. From all beastmen, none of the three main wolf bloodlines are.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s an old legend. Our ancestors were saved by Brine from Ragnis, and we became immune to his fire inside the Beastmen”

“Another legend… great, so the fever is said to be caused by the fire elemental?”

“His fire burns inside the beastmen causing the fever, the desire to violence and mate is all related to Ragnis”

“Of course... I don't know who comes up with these stories, oh well, seems like we have another reason to investigate that fortress”

Attia, Bellica and Eileen were returning, the two were all washed up and dripping from the water. They moved towards the camp while looking at Riou, strategically positioning themselves where he could see them.

Both half lionesses then began taking down their armor, while glancing at Riou to see if he was looking at them.

He was looking at them with a confused expression. Not only him, Eileen as well, she was very surprised but was quick to act. “Inside, both of you. A Lady shouldn’t undress in public!”

“But… But Therese said… and you...” said Attia as Eileen quickly intervened.

“Therese… I knew that story would be a problem. Come on, inside both of you, I will help you dry your armor.”

Leona smiled, but her expression quickly changed to a serious one “One more thing… The black wolf said that Argos was preparing a big attack, he knew that because the spell was stronger than usual and that the Undead army was ready to make a move.”

“An attack? So they can increase this spell power at will? That would explain the changes in the beastmen people recently. Damn, I wonder how the beastmen would fight under this influence. We aren’t far from the front, let’s move and see what's going on” he turned to the tent where Attia and Bellica were, “But before we go, maybe we should send those two back? They are not in their right mind and the closer we get the worse they seem to be.”

“That might be a wise choice, the medicine will not work as well on further doses”

He nodded “Attia, Bellica, can you come here for a moment?” Riou called.

Both lionesses came out of the tent followed by Eileen.

Riou pulled the portal crystal “I need you to do something for me… Go back to Arthas and Therese and wait with them. Tell them that Argos is manipulating the beastmen somehow and that there might be a battle on the front soon.”

“One of us is enough for that… right?” Asked Bellica looking at Attia

“The problem is, you two are under this influence as well. And so far our protection is not working against it, I need to investigate it further before letting you go near it... you know what that means, right?”

“But we are fine now… we will control ourselves better, please, let us stay!”

“I’m afraid this is not up to debate. You know the drill. We just can't risk it”

With the portal open, Attia and Bellica crossed it with a clear desire to stay.

Arthas seemed surprised to see the two returning "They will explain everything, for now, we will investigate as planned" Said Riou to him through the portal.

“It’s just us three now… Let’s avoid any attention and try to see what's going on”

*BUWOOOONNNN* echo in the distance, the horn sounded loudly, catching everyone’s attention.

Riou and the group moved towards a clearing, following the source of the noise. The beastmen army was already marching on the dark cemetery grounds towards the fortress. Thousands of battle-ready Beastmen moving in one single group.

They looked to the other side, towards the fortress and a huge black mass began to appear in the plains and were also marching towards the battleground as well, to meet the beastmen on the graveyard.

“The Undead army, it seems the black wolf was not lying after all” Said Leona

“But what the hell is the Beastmen doing? They can estimate the enemy numbers, right? Why would they engage that many in an open field, right below the Fortress? They will be massacred” Riou found it very strange, tactically it would be wiser to take a more defensive position against the undead.

Leona nodded “This is bad! Something is wrong… this is not the standard army movement and they are too close to the enemy to be marching in this close formation. They will be swarmed if they continue forward like that!”

“I don’t see the leader… shouldn’t they have someone commanding the army?” Asked the princess.

Leona was searching as well “You are right! I don’t see any commanding officers either, there should be a few in the front and some at the sides to coordinate the formation changes… but I don’t see anyone accompanying them from here, they should be holding banners!”

“It’s one thing after the other, goddamn I hate this place” Riou watched as the beastmen moved to certain death.

“We need to do something, we can’t let them do this… We have to save them" said Eileen.

“They are too far away, even if we go at full speed, the undead will reach them before we do,” said Leona.

Eileen looked at Riou.

“You can reach them on your own, right?"

"I probably can... but I don't know if I should, we will be exposed if I do that"

Eileen nodded "But too many lives are at stake, and now we know Argos is manipulating them, we have to do something. We can't allow these many people to die” The princess looked at Riou and nodded to him.

He glanced at the beastmen army in the distance “Damn...” Riou gave Eileen the gate stone. “Hold on to this, just in case you need it. Ok?”

She nodded. “I will be back soon, just hide well and wait for me” Riou began to run towards the army at great speed. He would definitely reach the army before the undead.

As he finally was approaching them, he reduced the speed and tried to hail the beastmen. But the army showed no signs of stopping to greet him.

“Motherfuckers! Just stop already!” He moved to the front and shot a sphere of mana in front of the charging army, the sphere exploded in a flash and a loud sound.

Finally, they stopped, completely startled by what happened. As he moved, he found the captain amidst the soldiers.

“Captain! What are you doing there?” shouted Riou, recognizing the beastmen.

“You?” said the captain, surprised moving forward and out of the formation

“Stop this nonsense already. Why are you charging against a bigger army of undead at the reach of the fortress? That's suicide, you would only lose soldiers and give them more undead to play with.”

“Shut it human, I don’t wanna hear anything from you! Our ancestors are crying for our shame! How can we not rally and fight when those filthy Argonians march on our land? Our honor demands their heads! We must fight, we must show our valor! We must push that scourge that defiles our lands back to the Desert they crawled from!”

The soldiers Cheered in high spirits, ready and crazed for battle.

“You will all die!”

“Then so be it! For every Beastmen that die today, two more shall take its place!”

Riou looked at the people there… Most of them were young men, their eyes showed an unusual desire for violence. They were clearly more than eager to fight.

He looked in the distance towards the fortress, “You guys have been closer to that thing than anyone else… Maybe it’s effects stacked over time? Or maybe they have some trigger on you by now?”

“Go away human! We don’t have time for you! Our glory awaits!”

Riou sighed “For fuck sake, wake up already. There is no reason to fight in the enemy kill zone. At least move back, fortify a position and wait for the undead with some terrain advantage and far away from their fortress attacks.”

“We are beastmen! We will seek out our enemy and destroy them!” everyone shouted, getting even more rallied up.

“Usually I wouldn’t mind and let you throw your lives away… but since you are not on your best judgment, I feel obligated to stop you” as Riou was addressing the captain, the undead army suddenly stopped in the distance.

From the undead right flank, something moved at an astonishing speed against the enemy army. Smashing, destroying, and even sending some of the undead flying up high. Someone or something was ravaging the undead numbers with great force.

“NO!!!!” shouted the captain as he pointed forward “Attack! Don’t let that honorless dog steal our glory!”

“Oh no you don’t…” Riou stomped the ground with his foot with intent. The ground shakes violently nearby and caves in, startling the beastmen army and creating a large fissure on the dark soil between them and the undead army, big enough to prevent them from charging forward.

The captain looked astonished at Riou “Now… captain. Who is attacking the undead?”

“You… you are a human mage? How did you do this?” The Captain looked at the ravine created.

“Focus… I asked who is that” he pointed to the one fighting the army alone.

“It’s the black wolf… he is a pariah that was expelled from the army and now he tries to humiliate us whenever he can!”

Riou nodded “The black wolf, so he does fight Argos on a regular basis…”

The captain was still looking down the fissure, something had definitely caught his attention as he seemed confused looking to the hole. Noticing it, Riou joined him at the edge and looked down.

Below, he sees a broken layer of a smooth stone that was located below the dark sands, just a few palms into the ground. That surface was curved and formed a crevice that funneled towards a pipe-like structure deeper down. The pipes seem made of dark green stones, very well polished. They looked very old, some of the pipes were broken and the inside could be seen, it had quite a metallic glint from where Riou stood.